The Hamster Gravestones

Yes, these are hamster gravestones. My step-dad Tom made these for me. They marked the spots at my grandparent’s house where my hamsters were buried. The house is being sold, and so the markers are now memorials in my garden. One is brass, the other two are aluminum. Tom machined (and came up with) the epithets for the markers.

Acro's marker

Acro. “Here lies Acro the hamster, died because she couldn’t run any faster.”

I went downstairs one day, on my way to the kitchen or the bathroom or something and nearly walked right over her… my escape artist hamster, never to run away again. From the state she was in, we figured Sadie, or dog, got her. Of course, Acro (so named because of her acrobatic tendencies) was about 4 years old at the time, a ripe old age for a hamster, so it is entirely possible she escaped, died, and then the dog got her. Either way, it was traumatic. Acro had a pretty good history of escape. I had to keep a pile of books on top of the cage, otherwise she would push up the hatch and climb out. Of course, the most memorable escape was completely my fault. We were playing with her in the doll house we had, me, my sister and our friend Sarah. Mom called us down for lunch, and by that time, Acro was curled up asleep in the doll house. We didn’t want to wake her up, so figured our little paper towel tubes that we taped to the edges of the doll house would keep her in if she woke up. Needless to say, she wasn’t there when we got back. She ended up getting into the wall somehow. My dad used a hand drill to drill a hole in the wall, and somehow coaxed her out. Her other escapes were not so dramatic, but they were persistent. I’m glad she escaped before she died, she went out doing what she loved. Years later, my stepdad made the gravestone for her. **UPDATE** Mom called to correct me on this story. She says Dad used the power drill, and that I wasn’t home for it. Confirmed with Dad, he used the cordless power drill because the hand crank drill was too small. He used the bit you would use to drill a doorknob hole. Also, the time Sarah was over and Acro escaped we found her under a cabinet in my room. The wall escape was a different attempt.

I was heartbroken when Acro died. I loved that hamster. So I went to the petstore to get a new one. They had just had a litter, adorable little cream and light brown mottled hamsters. I picked one and started playing with him. At one point he wriggled out of my hands and landed on the floor, pretty sure it was head-first. He was a little dazed. I knew it wasn’t a good idea to buy an animal that just fell on his head, but I felt bad for him, and thought it was my fault he fell. He was super tiny, and the fall combined with being taken away from his mom so early did him in pretty quickly. Not sure how long I had him, maybe a week or so. He got less and less lively, and wouldn’t eat anything. One day I found him, stretched out and dehydrated in one of the hamster tube. That was the end of poor little dude.

Ariel the long-lived

Ariel. “Here lies Ariel. She lived long, did nothing wrong, and died of old age.”

After Little Dude died, I didn’t plan on getting a new hamster. I was too sad, I had lost two pets in a short time and didn’t want to lose another. But I think because I was so sad, my Dad decided to surprise me with a new hamster. She sat in the cage, a little brown hamster, wanting me to love her. I never really fell for her the way I did with the other hamsters, but she was a good companion. She was named Ariel because she liked to be as high in the air as possible, making her nest in whatever tube contraption was the highest up. As the epithet says, she lived for ages. I don’t remember finding her when she died, I think my mom must have.

That was the end of my hamster experience, and I have no intention of starting it up again. They were good pets, and I’m glad that I finally found the memorials buried under layers of mud in the back yard of the Martinsville house.

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One Response to “The Hamster Gravestones”

Pets are so dear to us like family and it is sad when they have to leave. I love those gravestones.
:-( My SIL is a big guinea-pig lover. I think she would love something like this for her dearly departed.